


The ANBU, the Jinchuuriki, and Me

by enby0angel



Series: The ANBU, the Jinchuuriki, and Me [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: (Yes it hurt me too), (i.e. Iruka's Parents and Minato and Kushina), Alternate Universe, Anbu Hatake Kakashi, Canonical Character Death, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Jinchuuriki Uzumaki Naruto, Kyuubi Attack, Minor Character Death, Missing-Nin Hatake Kakashi, Missing-Nin Umino Iruka, Missing-Nin Uzumaki Naruto, Podfic Available, Pre-Canon, Pre-Genin Umino Iruka, Pre-Slash, Uzushiogakure, What-If, and that's enough from me, please validate my life choices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-18 21:37:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20319895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enby0angel/pseuds/enby0angel
Summary: Nobody took any notice of a small child creeping around, and if they did notice him they didn’t say anything. Everybody was too busy trying to find their families and their loved ones, to scavenge what was left of their houses, to pick up the leftover pieces of their lives.Iruka wasn’t sure why he walked in the direction he did. Perhaps it was by pure chance, perhaps he was being guided by an unseen hand.Whatever it may have bee, it led him in the direction of a child. A baby, in fact, one who had his eyes squeezed shut and was silently crying and was so very alone.





	The ANBU, the Jinchuuriki, and Me

**Author's Note:**

> Will I ever stop writing Naruto fanfiction? No, probably not.
> 
> This lil plot bunny has been sitting around in my brain for a little while now and I finally managed to bash it out! Don't know how it got over 2k... hmmmmmmm...
> 
> I might come back to this universe later, I really like this concept and honestly??? Uzushio fics are awesome, so here's my contribution. Please love me.
> 
> Also I barely read over this, basically just all proofreading and no editing. I just NEEDED to get this out there. End my suffering. I can put this one in the Complete folder. Hngggggggggggg
> 
> I hope you enjoy!! <3
> 
> (Let's pray for the formatting...)

Chaos surrounded him. He could barely breathe through the smoke and ashes, and through the sheer agony of having just seen his parents fall before him.

Chaos surrounded Umino Iruka, and it was easy to give into it.

He screamed as his parents ran out to fight.

He screamed as his parents fell.

He screamed when they wouldn’t wake up.

He screamed and he screamed and he screamed.

And there was nothing else he could do.

  


After a while, it began to calm down. Iruka gained the courage to crawl out of the hole he’d been hiding in, and look around. All around him buildings were on fire and bodies littered the ground. He couldn’t remember where his parents were – he wasn’t even sure if he’d recognise them.

He was so scared.

He walked. Nobody took any notice of a small child creeping around, and if they did notice him they didn’t say anything. Everybody was too busy trying to find their families and their loved ones, to scavenge what was left of their houses, to pick up the leftover pieces of their lives.

Iruka wasn’t sure why he walked in the direction he did. Perhaps it was by pure chance, perhaps he was being guided by an unseen hand.

Whatever it may have bee, it led him in the direction of a child. A baby, in fact, one who had his eyes squeezed shut and was silently crying and was so very alone.

He stopped. He stared down at the infant. His eyes were drawn to an intricate seal on the baby’s stomach, and as he studied it he felt anger wash over him, for he knew that that seal contained the beast that slaughtered his parents.

Iruka clenched his fists at his sides, his eyes filling with tears all over again. They spilled over and streamed down his cheeks, and fell onto the child below him.

The contact seemed to rouse the baby, and he opened his eyes. Iruka’s own eyes widened at the sheer _blue_ this baby’s eyes were.

Blue. The colour of his father. Not the colour of a monster.

Iruka’s anger now contradicted himself. Of _course_ he was angry at the Kyuubi no Kitsune, his parents were just _killed_ by that beast’s eternal rage, but he also felt himself become unbelievably angry at the Fourth Hokage.

The fourth Hokage, who was lying dead only metres away with his wife at his side. The beloved Fourth who was a man of the people before a man of politics, who married the second Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, who had been _so _excited for the arrival of his child that Iruka’s own parents had come home giddy about it once they heard the news.

Namikaze Minato, who had sealed the Kyuubi into his own newborn child.

Iruka fell to his knees before the child and bowed over him, arms either side of the baby as if protecting him. His tears fell onto the child which only made the child begin to wail. Iruka bent into the child and rested his forehead on the baby’s little shoulder, choking on sobs. The child began to wail louder, so Iruka pulled back and forced a smile onto his face.

“Hey,” he whispered. “It’s okay. I’m here.” The baby stared up at him, and Iruka scrubbed the tears from his cheeks. “Hey,” he said again, “shh. It’s okay. You’re not alone anymore.”

Kyuubi or no, no child deserves to be left alone.

  


Iruka learns the child’s name when little Naruto is taken away from him by the suddenly reinstated Third Hokage. Iruka begged and pleaded but to no avail. Naruto was placed in his own room in the hospital (most of which was blessedly unharmed), separate from Iruka. Iruka slept fitfully over the next two days, mourning his parents and plagued by worry for the child.

Already citizens of Konoha, shinobi and civilian alike, were wishing death upon the boy. Iruka’s fears were well founded.

Three days after the attack, Iruka found the strength to sneak out of his hospital room to find Naruto. Once again nobody noticed one more person in the halls, even a child, seeing as the hospital was crowded with shinobi and civilians of all ages. He heard people talking about Naruto and listened in, following them as they headed to his room.

There was one ANBU posted outside Naruto’s door, which almost made Iruka turn around and run back the way he came, but he had always been stubborn to a fault. The ANBU turned their head to talk to the doctor, and Iruka slipped through the door behind them.

They must have been exhausted if a pre-genin like Iruka could slip by – though, Iruka didn’t blame them.

Once he was in the room, Iruka’s eyes latched onto the baby in the cot. Iruka crept over, relief washing over him at the sound of Naruto’s peaceful breathing. When Iruka was only a few paces away from the cot, instinct told him to look up.

There was a figure crouched on the windowsill, and that was _definitely_ a katana.

Iruka didn’t think, he just lunged for the cot, wanting only to cover the child before the katana reached him. He didn’t make it one step before the figure was upon him and the katana was at his throat.

Iruka froze. It was over in a second without a single sound made.

“Please don’t hurt him,” he managed to choke out despite the blade against his jugular. The other paused, but Iruka didn’t dare move. “He’s just a baby,” Iruka continued, carrying no thoughts of his own safety, “he didn’t ask for this.”

“Do you mean that?” the other asked suddenly and _oh_. Iruka’s brain quickly caught up with the situation at hand: the other was wearing a Konoha ANBU mask, was a boy only a few years older than him judging by the voice, and obviously thought that _Iruka_ was here to assassinate the baby. Oops.

“Yes,” Iruka answered. “Please, I- I just wanted to see him.”

They stood there in silence for a moment, before the ANBU nodded and stepped back, sheathing his katana in a blur. “You’re Umino, right?” the ANBU asked.

Iruka nodded. “Umino Iruka, ANBU-san,” he introduced himself, bowing.

“You’re the one who found Naruto.” It wasn’t a question, but Iruka nodded anyway.

“Yes,” he said, then looked over to where Naruto was still sleeping soundly. “I just wanted to see him again. I had to know if he’s alright.”

The ANBU nodded, and Iruka took that as permission to walk over to the baby. He bent over the cot, physically relaxing at the sight of Naruto unharmed. As if sensing his presence, Naruto’s face scrunched up before his eyes blinked open, and sea blue eyes gazed up at him with all the innocence in the world. Iruka reached into the cot, touching the tiny hand with his own. Naruto wrapped his hand around Iruka’s index finger, and Iruka just about melted.

“Hey,” Iruka whispered, and Naruto gargled at him. Iruka smiled, then looked up at the ANBU who had wandered over to stand at the opposite side of the cot. Staring down at the child he had somehow become fond of, he felt his mind quieten even with the strange ANBU in the room.

“Are you alone?” the ANBU asked.

Iruka swallowed, hesitating before nodding. “Yes, ANBU-san.”

“Hound.”

“Hm?” Iruka looked up at the ANBU, who was still staring down at little Naruto. Though, it was a little hard to tell exactly where he was looking.

“Call me Hound,” the ANBU said, and looked up at Iruka. They contemplated each other for a moment: the rugged and battle-hardened village assassin, and the eleven-year-old newly-orphaned pre-genin.

Iruka nodded. In fact, now that he took notice, the red painted swirls and the shape of the mask did resemble a hound. He licked his lips and dared to ask, “How do you know Naruto?”

Hound just looked at him in silence, in which Iruka’s guilt for asking the question grew rapidly. Just as he was about to apologise, Hound murmured, “He’s family.”

Iruka closed his mouth, stunned, then nodded. He didn’t question further – ANBU were strictly not allowed to compromise their identity, and Iruka wasn’t about to compromise Hound’s career. The two of them stood in silence, hovering over the little infant who was playing with Iruka’s fingers. “Do you know what’s going to happen to him?”

For a few minutes, Hound was silent. “He’ll probably go to the orphanage,” Hound murmured softly.

Iruka’s head snapped up. “No,” he said firmly. Hound, even behind the mask, seemed surprised. “No way. No _way_ he’s going there. He’ll never be accepted there, you know that! He’ll be there with kids and carers who’ll hate him and shun him and he’ll be all _alone_-”

“I’m sorry.”

Iruka froze in place. Hound’s voice seemed so sad and regretful and all of a sudden he seemed so… small, and young. Iruka wondered how old this boy actually was.

“I tried.” Hound’s shoulders hunched, and he reached into the cot to run his gloved hand over Naruto’s head. “I tried to talk to the Third, Naruto, but he won’t let me take you. He won’t let me raise you. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry...” He bent over Naruto, all pale lanky limbs and shockingly silver hair that gleamed in the moonlight streaming in from the window. “I’ll get them to change their minds someday, Naruto,” Iruka heard him whisper, and suddenly he felt as if he was intruding on a very private moment. “Someday, Naruto, I’ll be your big brother again.”

“Big brother?” Iruka blurted out, then slapped his free hand over his mouth. “I’m so sorry, you don’t have to answer that, I just...” he ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t know what to say anymore.

Hound tilted his head, but didn’t look up at Iruka. “It’s okay,” he said quietly. “I understand. I’m… I’m alone, too.”

Iruka blinked. “You don’t have a family?”

Hound shook his head. “My mother died just after I was born, and my father died when I was very young. Both of my genin teammates are gone and my sensei and his wife are… they’re gone, too. Naruto’s all I have left.”

“So, you don’t have a clan?”

Hound shook his head. “I’m the last of my clan.”

He wasn’t sure what compelled him to do it, but Iruka placed his hand over Hound’s own. The boy froze. “I get it,” Iruka said. “My parents aren’t-” he swallowed, “_weren’t_, from Konoha. They never told me where they came from but they always told me that if I was ever alone, I’d find my way home.” Iruka blinked back tears. “Okaa-san said it would always be waiting for me.”

Hound did look up at him then. “Umino, right?” Iruka nodded. “Do you know what your mother’s surname was?” Iruka shook his head. “Umino… _of the sea_. Did they ever tell you why they came here?”

Iruka desperately thought back to every time he’d ever begged his mother to tell him about where she and his father came from. “She said… she said they could always see the ocean. They would ride the waves and run with the wind. They said the land was alive, and would always look after its people.” He tilted his head in a mix of confusion and fondness. “I’ve never seen the beach.”

“Uzumaki.”

“What?”

“Uzumaki. Uzushio. Uzushiogakure used to be a hidden village on the coast, in Whirlpool Country, and that’s where the Uzumaki clan come from. I think your mother was an Uzumaki.”

Iruka swallowed. “Why do you say that?”

Hound straightened. “Because the way you just described the village was the way Uzumaki Kushina always talked about her old home.”

Not quite believing what he was hearing, Iruka’s hand tightened around Hound’s. “Are… are you sure?”

Bowing his head, Hound nodded. “It makes sense. You even have a tinge of red in your hair.”

Iruka was close to sobbing. “I have a _clan_?”

“Maybe. I’ll help you look into it, if you want,” Hound offered.

Iruka almost wanted to as _Why? Why are you helping me here? Aren’t you supposed to be invulnerable?_ But ANBU or no, Hound was human too. Human, young, and alone.

Just like Iruka, and just like Naruto.

“If you are related to the Uzumaki, then you and Naruto might be cousins,” Hound said lightly. “You’d have reason to stay with him.” Iruka jolted at that. “You’re a kind soul, Iruka-kun. You want to take care of a child you never met, because you don’t want him to be alone. That’s kindness that a lot of people don’t receive, or even have.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the rule-abiding assassin?” Iruka asked lightly, smiling.

“I haven’t cared for the rules in a long time,” Hound answered, sounding amused (thank kami). “Konoha treats those who break the rules as trash, but I believe that those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.”

“I believe that too,” Iruka said.

Hound made a thoughtful noise. “I thought you might.”

Iruka looked down at Naruto, who was quietly dozing off to sleep again. Iruka’s hand was still over Hound’s, but Hound hadn’t mentioned it and Iruka couldn’t bring himself to move it. “Don’t worry, Naruto,” Iruka murmured. “You have two big brothers now.”

He pretended not to notice how Hound’s hand started trembling.

  


Not three days later, the village was in chaos again, but Iruka wasn’t in the middle of it this time.

Iruka was the cause of it.

More accurately, he was one of three causes of it.

The village was in a panicked chaos, and the Third would swore that he aged a year in the two seconds that it took for one of his ANBU to report that the Fourth’s son had gone missing.

Little Naruto, thanks to the lack of consideration by Kyuubi-despising hospital staff, had disappeared out the window in the dead of night, blankets and all.

The Third would go on to swear that he aged a _decade_ when he realised that Hound was nowhere to be found.

Nobody noticed that Iruka was missing for a little while, and nobody ever really made the connection.

By the time the Third had been informed that the infant Jinchuuriki and his best ANBU Captain had disappeared, the trio were halfway to the coast.

Nobody ever tracked them there.

  


When Umino Iruka stepped onto the sands of Uzushiogakure for the first time, it felt like a weight lifted off his shoulders.

His soul felt light, and his heart felt full.

He could feel his mother’s kisses and his father’s gentle hands in the ocean breeze.

He laughed for the first time in a week when Hound took off his mask, revealing mismatched eyes and battle scars.

He’d never been to the beach before.

It felt like home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!!! Comments and kudos are always appreciated <3
> 
> Come chat w me @enby-angel on tumblr! :D
> 
> Love always!!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The ANBU, The Jinchuuriki, And Me [PODFIC]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21321892) by [enby0angel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enby0angel/pseuds/enby0angel)


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